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Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced Auckland’s level 3 restrictions will be extended until 11.59pm on Sunday night.
Ardern
Beginning her post-Cabinet briefing, Ardern says tomorrow marks 14 days since the reemergence of Covid-19 outside of quarantine facilities.
She says more than a quarter of the testing done across the country has been done in the past 13 days.
Cases have emerged over the past 13 days of cases that occured before Auckland went into level 3, she says, and if it were not for level three, the cluster would be much larger.
The current restrictions – Auckland at alert level 3, and the rest of the country at level 2 – are due to lift at midnight Wednesday and ministers met this afternoon to review whether community transmission has been contained.
Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield will have briefed Cabinet on cases, trends, progress finding the index case, the spread of the virus and whether there are any cases still not linked to the Auckland cluster.
Aucklanders have been divided on the matter, but the city’s mayor and businesses supported an ease of restrictions.
Today there were eight new cases of Covid-19 in the community, plus a case which arrived from overseas into managed isolation.
Alert Level 3 is being extended in Auckland until 11.59pm Sunday 30 August.
Cabinet agrees that Auckland should step its way into level 2, Prime Minister Ardern says.
Ardern on masks:
“They limit the chance for Covid-19 when it is often harder to distance yourself and trace people.”
The stamp it out strategy is what the government is sticking with, she says.“I know there are many who have found it harder this time.”“We may not have any choice about whether or not the world is in a global pandemic but we do have choices about how we deal with it.”The next several weeks will see more cases, she says, but also thousands of tests and a team in full force to stamp out Covid in New Zealand.New Zealand knows how to bounce back, she says.“We are strong, we have been kind and we are doing really well.”
More to come…
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